Unfinished Anthology The Evil Within Side
by aachannoichi
Summary: A plethora of incomplete The Evil Within stories.
1. Chapter 1

Myra's Secret

"I'm going to write you a prescription for some vitamins and you'll have to take them twice a day." The doctor said cheerfully. "And you will have to avoid drinking alcohol and of course smoking, which I've been after you to give up for a while now."

Myra's doctor continued with his speech, telling her all the things she had to be cautious of. Meanwhile she tried to listing to everything he said, her mind was spinning a mile a minute. Honestly, she hadn't heard anything clearly since, "_Eight weeks pregnant_" was uttered. While it was shocking to hear the doctor say it, she pretty much figured this was the outcome two weeks ago when the overwhelming exhaustion and persistent nausea kicked in. Then there was that strange craving for churros with French onion dip, a symptom which freaked her out no matter how many times she covertly yielded to the craving.

"I'm going to write a referral for you to see Dr. Piero Marini." The continued as he wrote on a different note pad than the prescription note pad. "He's one of Krimson City's finest Obstetricians, I think you two will get along well."

The doctor slid over all of the tiny slips of paper to Myra and she picked them up and looked them all over. Two were for vitamins, one for nausea, and the last was the referral. When she was done looking them over, she smiled feebly to the doctor.

"Do you have any questions for me Mrs. Castellanos?" He questioned.

"No." She said with a slight sigh. "Not right now."

"Ok then." The doctor said getting up from his seat. "If you think of anything please feel free to call and I'll answer any questions you may have."

"Thank you, Dr. Wells." My said kindly, as she stood up and tucked the slips of paper into her purse.

"Congratulations Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Wells said with a smile.

"Yes." She said softly. "Thank you, Dr. Wells."

Myra shook the doctor's hand and walked out into the lobby. She still was in complete disbelief. Eight weeks pregnant?! Grant it this was happy news, but she wasn't sure she was ready for motherhood. She and Sebastian hadn't even been married two months; how could this have possibly happened? Myra, stopped and thought for a moment and she knew exactly how it happened, it was then she remembered. In the days following the wedding, she kept forgetting to take her birth control pills regularly. In fact, during their honeymoon, an entire week had passed before she realized that she hadn't taken any at all. Mercifully, it was the week that had no hormones in them, so it didn't matter if she took them or not, however a week after that incident, she had missed a few days. Add to that the fact that she and Sebastian couldn't keep their hands off one another and every private moment they spent together was spent in the throes of martial pleasure, it was honestly no surprise this was the outcome.

"Are you ready to check out Mrs. Castellanos?" The nurse behind the front desk asked politely.

"Yes." Myra said snapping out of her deep thoughts and walking up to the desk.

The nurse typed in all her information and pulled up the records.

"I know you recently got married." The nurse stated retaining her sweet tone. "Did your address and home telephone number change?"

"Neither has changed." She said. "We're living at my place."

"Nothing to change- good." The nurse said. "How was your wedding?"

"It was really nice." Myra said kindly.

"Where did you have your wedding, if I may ask?" The nurse asked happily.

"We had it at the Veranda Hotel." Myra answered.

"I attended a wedding there back in the summer." The nurse answered. "It's really nice hotel. Did you have the ceremony in the Atrium?"

"Yes we did." Myra answered.

"Oh it must have been so lovely." The nurse said sounding positively giddy. "I know it takes a little while to get your pictures back from the photographers, but when you do could you show me a few?"

Myra looked at the nurse and smiled. She was young, she couldn't have been any more than 20 years old or so, and looked at weddings as most women did, with starry eyed princess dreams of their "_big day_". Honestly, she didn't share those girlish giddy feelings about weddings. When she thought about it, she figured she would eventually get married, but she always assumed it would be a quick City Hall event and have little fanfare afterwards. However, at the insistence of her mother, four brothers, and Sebastian she ended up having a grand wedding, complete with white dress, long veil, formal ceremony, and all the rest of the traditional wedding accruements. While it was both a beautiful and fun day, it really wasn't what she wanted for a wedding day.

"Sure I can." Myra answered still smiling kindly.

The nurse thanked her and continued to thumb through her records.

"Ok." The nurse said finishing up. "It looks like you're all set for today."

"No co-payment?" Myra asked.

"Not this time." She said. "Do you want to make an appointment for next time?"

"Sure."

Myra and the young nurse finalized their business and Myra walked out of the doctor's office. The streets of Krimson City were as busy as always. People dashed around to various buildings and zipped along in cars, but Myra moved sluggishly, her mind was consumed with thoughts of the news of a child. She wasn't sure who to break the news to first. She should probably call her mother, but once her brothers found out, the news would be all over Krimson City. She also thought about calling Sebastian and letting him know, but for whatever reason, she couldn't bring herself to reach in her pants pocket for her cell phone. It was a strange moment. Why didn't she want to tell him? She loved Sebastian and the news she was pregnant would be happy… Why was she feeling this way? Myra quickly worked to shrug off the strange apprehensive feeling. With a sigh she walked over to her white Foord Aquarius and got in. Closing the door and shutting out all the noise and calamity of the bustling city around, she closed her light hazel eyes, and took a deep relaxing breath, letting the scent of the vanilla lavender air freshener relax her weary mind. After a few moments of trying to settle down, Myra slowly opened her eyes and to focus and not let her thoughts completely overwhelm her.

Myra touched the ignition button to her car and the engine roared to life, but she couldn't bring herself to put the car into Drive. Looking away from the windshield, she looked down at her stomach and touched it lovingly.

"A baby…" She whispered softly.

Suddenly it dawned on her who she could tell. Reaching into her pants pocket for her cell phone, Myra turned on the screen, then quickly thumbed through her list of contacts. It didn't take her long to find the number she was looking for. Hitting the already programmed contact, she hit send and listened as the ringing blasted out over her car's stereo system.

"Hello." A man's voice answered.

"Hi Mitchell it's me." Myra said. "Are you at HQ?"

"Na." He replied. "I took the day off, so I'm at home. What's up Hanson?"

"I need to talk to you about something." Myra answered. "Can I swing by your house?"

"Sure." The man answered kindly. "I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. I'll let Luciana know you're coming over. Where are you Hanson?"

"Downtown." She answered. "I'll be at your place in 20."

"See you then." The man answered.

Myra hung up the phone, took another deep cleansing breath, and then slowly exhaled. She found the strength to drive and made her way to her next destination. Roughly about 20 minutes later, she found herself at the front door of Captain Mitchell Balzac, head of the downtown division of the Krimson City Police force and a long-time family friend. Back when Myra's father was a police officer, he and Mitchell were partners as patrol officers, until Myra's father was promoted to detective. Even after Myra's father was promoted to detective, he and Mitchell still remain close friends. After Myra's father was killed in the line of duty, he was instrumental in ensuring his best friend's only daughter grew up knowing about all the amazing things her father accomplished as a police officer. When Myra had grown up she made the decision to become a police officer in Krimson City all because of the things Mitchell shared with her about her father which helped seal her decision.

Ringing the door bell, Myra waited for the door to open. After a few minutes, Luciana, the Captain's wife answered the door. After exchanging pleasantries, Luciana showed Myra inside to their living room while she went to go and get Mitchell. Sitting in the living room waiting for Mitchell to walk in, Myra was noticeably uneasy; she wrung her hands and her crossed legs shook; waiting always drove Myra crazy, patience wasn't one of her virtues. Finally, after about five minutes of wait, Mitchell walked into the living room and greeted Myra kindly.

"So." He said sitting down in the big leather reclining chair in front of Myra. "What's going on that this couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"Can't I stop by and see my Dad's best friend?" Myra said.

"You can see me at work tomorrow." Mitchell responded gruffly. "I can only assume this has to do with Castellanos."

Myra didn't answer.

"I told you when you started dating Castellanos that I wouldn't get involved in your spats." Mitchell chastised. "I believe I restated that exact sentiment on your wedding day too."

Myra still didn't answer, she remained quiet.

"Go on." He said pulling back the lever to the recliner and slouching into a resting position. "What did he do this time?"

"He got me pregnant." She answered softly.

Mitchell grey eyes were wide with shock, and he sat up instantly causing the reclining chair to return to its original sitting position.

"A baby?!" He questioned in complete disbelief.

Myra nodded her head.

"Hanson…" He said completely in shock by the news she just stated. "Oh my God Hanson… That's great!"

"Is it?" She questioned.

"What do you mean Hanson?" Mitchell questioned. "Aren't you happy about having a baby?"

"I am." Myra hesitated. "But…"

"But what?"

"It's all so sudden." She said sounding more disillusioned than joyful.

"What's so sudden?" He asked.

"All of it!" Myra exploded. "This time last year I just got the word he was going to be my partner! We weren't partners that long before I got shot, then we confess that we love each other. Next thing I know he's moving into my apartment and we're getting married! Now we're going to have a child together!?"

"Hanson…" Mitchell started.

"My God!" Myra interrupted as she jumped up and began pacing wildly around the living room. "We've barely been married for two months! Two months! We haven't talked about anything of real importance! We most definitely haven't talked about starting a family! In fact, we haven't had a conversation that didn't end with our underwear around our ankles since we got married!"

Mitchell worked hard to suppress the belly laugh that was welling in his throat, so he just shook his head at the brazen comment instead.

"Now we're going to have a baby together?!" Myra said frantically. "Sebastian is going to freak out!"

"Now I've known Castellanos since I recruited him from the police academy seven years ago." Mitchell chimed in. "He may be a pain in the ass at times, but he'll be happy to know you're pregnant. He just may insist you go on desk duty."

"DESK DUTY?!" Myra screamed. "I can't go back on desk duty! Remember how antsy I was the last time I was on desk duty!"

"Oh God." Mitchell said remembering those 8 weeks with a cold chill running down his spine.

When Myra had been given clearance to return to work following her being shot by a suspect, she was placed on desk assignment until the doctor, the physical therapist, the chief psychologist, and Internal Affairs were all unanimously agreed she was able to work and function as any other officer at KCPD. However, during those long weeks Myra would march in his office daily with a 20 minute tirade about how she abhorred being chained to a desk all day. Then like clockwork, every Friday she would turn in a letter of resignation, which was just a paper copy of her daily morning outburst. If it wasn't for Castellanos's ability to talk her down from these histrionics, she probably would have actually quit the force without a second glance, and he would be without one of the best officers on the force.

"What am I going to do?" She said frantically. "I'm not ready to have a baby and I'm almost certain Sebastian isn't."

Mitchell got out of his recliner, walked over to Myra, and grabbed her gently by the shoulders. Looking into her frightened light hazel eyes he said softly, "You're going to be ok Hanson and Castellanos is too."

"What makes you so sure?" Myra said skeptically.

"Because I partnered you two up, didn't I?" He asked, but it was more of a statement of fact. "I knew you would work well together because you're cool and precise and he is determined and meticulous; you balance each other out perfectly and as parents you'll be the same way."

Myra looked into Mitchell's grey eyes like she used to do when she was a child. After her father died, she would try to be strong so people wouldn't worry about her, but sometimes when it all became too overwhelming it would be Mitchell who would help calm her down with that same stern glare, with a gentle smile.

"Just promise me you won't tell Sebastian." Myra said softly.

"Of course, not Hanson." He said with kindly. "Your secret is safe with me. When do you plan on telling him though?"

"I'm not sure." She said. "Maybe when the shock wears off in a few days."

-End-


	2. Chapter 2

The Secret Life Joseph Oda

"Morning Joseph!" Oscar said cheerfully as noticed he was parked next to Joseph. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing well." Joseph replied kindly, opening up the back seat of his car and pulling out a large gym bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "How are you?"

"Pretty good." Oscar said retaining his cheerful demeanor. "Traffic was a bit of a beast this morning on Route 17, I doubt Sebastian is in yet."

"He was supposed to come in early to meet with the Assistant DA about that robbery case back in March." Joseph said. "He should be here already."

Oscar didn't respond, he just continued to walk alongside Joseph. As the pair walked in, Oscar wished Joseph a good day and ran off to join the other patrol officers hanging out by the coffee maker. Meanwhile, Joseph walked through the police precinct and went to his desk. Taking a casual glance to see if there were any messages left for him, he then looked up to see if Sebastian was in his office, which he was and he appeared to be alone. Since Joseph wasn't sure if he and Assistant District Attorney were still in conference, he sat down at his desk and began to get situated. While he was meticulously organizing his things, Sebastian came out of his office and walked over to Joseph's desk.

"Morning Joseph." Sebastian said gruffly.

"Good morning Seb." Joseph replied looking at Sebastian strangely.

Sebastian looked more tired than usual.

"Are you ok?" Joseph asked.

"Lily has a summer cold." He said. "Myra and I were up half the night trying to keep her fever down."

"Sounds rough." Joseph said sympathetically. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Myra's taking her to the doctor's this morning." Sebastian said. "I'm sure she'll be okay though."

"Is the Assistant DA still here?" Joseph asked.

"No." Sebastian said. "He left about 20 minutes ago."

"That was short." Joseph said sounding surprised. "I thought he was here for a discovery and deposition?"

"Yeah, but the guy plead guilty about fifteen minutes after the Assistant DA got here." Sebastian said. "Probably wanted to plead out for a lesser sentence."

"Considering what we had on him, it was probably for the best he pled guilty."

"We pretty much had him dead to rights." Sebastian said mindlessly. "With all those witnesses and the surveillance cameras in that area… He was done before he even began."

Joseph sat back in his chair and continued to organize his desk for the day. While Sebastian stood there, bleary-eyed watching Joseph. He could barely focus on what he should do next.

"I'm really going to help your help getting through today Joseph." Sebastian said snapping out of his stupor. "With the Captain at that conference and me only getting about 2 hours of sleep, I'll need someone with a clear head to keep me on track today."

Joseph looked at Sebastian long and hard. He could tell how exhausted Sebastian really was. His appearance was a complete mess. He could see that Sebastian made an attempt to shave this morning, but it wasn't the best effort, as there were still patches of rough stubble under his chin and cheeks. Also his tie was half done, which was something that didn't usually happen until after six in the evening. Grant it, sometimes his tie would find its way from beneath his Adams apple to the center of his chest when the day was particularly stressful, but for it to begin the day that way was not a good sign at all. Moreover, Sebastian's eyes were seriously bloodshot and his posture which was normally very good, was hunched over. This was going to be a really long day for both of them. When Sebastian was tired, he could get pretty absent minded and loopy.

"I'll help you as much as I can." Joseph said kindly. "But I do have to leave at 3 all this week, remember?"

Sebastian tried to jog his brain and he vaguely remembered Joseph requesting a week of half days, but it was all a jumbled mess in his mind.

"I could come back if you really need me." Joseph offered. "I'm just going to need about three hours today."

"No, no." Sebastian said. "I'm sure I'll figure out something. Let me just get a cup of coffee, I can barely keep my eyes open."

Sebastian wandered over to the coffee machine and poured himself a large cup of coffee. Taking a good chug, he managed to find the energy to carry on at least one conversation, so he went back over to Joseph's desk.

"I'll be in your office in a second Seb." Joseph said finish up his organization. "I just need one more thing before our morning meeting."

"Take your time." Sebastian said taking another long guzzle of coffee.

Joseph pulled out his KCPD notebook and got up from his desk.

"Ok, I'm ready." He said walking towards Sebastian's office.

While he was walking to the office, Sebastian looked down and saw the huge gym bag on the floor next to Joseph's desk. He was so absentminded that he didn't pay attention to it when he first came over. Nor did he see it when he came back with his cup of coffee. But the more important question was, why did he have such a large gym bag? In the five years he's known and worked with Joseph, he never saw him workout, but he did manage to stay healthy. Maybe he decided it was time to start hitting the gym.

"Are you coming Seb?" Joseph asked turning around to see that Sebastian was still lingering by his desk.

"Oh yeah." Sebastian answered turning and dashing off into his office.

Joseph sat down in the swivel chair next to Sebastian's desk then waited for him to saunter in. Sebastian came into the office and closed the door.

"So which case do you want to discuss first?" Joseph asked preparing his notes to review with Sebastian.

"I have the Forrester case file out." Sebastian said sitting down at his desk. "Let's start with that."

Quickly thumbing through the pages of his notebook, Joseph finally came to the section about the Forrester case. It was an organized robbery of a jewelry store operating in the Olde Town section of Krimson City. Joseph read through all the evidence he and Sebastian had collected, as well as the eyewitness testimony. Last week there was an arrest in connection to this crime, the district attorney was just waiting to receive the final report from Sebastian. As Joseph was reading, Sebastian's mind wandered off. He couldn't help but think about that huge gym bag that Joseph had.

It was odd; Joseph never seemed interested in physical fitness before, and he couldn't help but wonder what made him change so suddenly. He also wondered why his bag was so large. To workout you only need a tee shirt, shorts, socks, and sneakers- that bag looked like it had half his wardrobe in it? Maybe he was having a difficult situation and had to leave home? Surely if it was something like that, he would tell him. They were good enough friends to tell each other if something was wrong and that he needed a place to stay. Maybe Joseph didn't want to burden him, especially with news that Lily was sick. Maybe he was embarrassed and didn't want to ask him for help? Sebastian was so lost in his own thought process, that he didn't even hear Joseph call his name.

Sebastian looked up at Joseph.

"I said, did you have anything to add?" Joseph asked.

"To add to what?" Sebastian asked sounding very confused.

"Gees Seb…" Joseph said sounding very worried. "You're really not together at all today."

"I'm sorry Joseph." Sebastian said sorrowfully.

"You must really be worried about Lily." Joseph said. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"It's not just Lily I'm worried about." Sebastian said.

"I know you haven't gotten much rest today," Joseph said. "Why don't you go home and sleep for a few hours. I can hold the fort here."

It was then Sebastian reached for one of his desk drawers and pulled it open. The rooted around for a bit, but then pulled out a bottle of energy pills.

-End-


	3. Chapter 3

Bed Rest

Sebastian held Myra's hand tightly as they both sat in the lobby of Myra's OBGYN office. It looked like she wasn't the only woman there for her pre-natal check-up, because the lobby was jammed packed with women all in the late stages of pregnancy. It looks like Krimson City was going to have a small population boom come this summer and his dear wife would not be an exception. After taking a casual glance around the waiting room, Sebastian looked over at Myra and smiled. She may be about seven months pregnant, but she still looked at lovely as the day the married.

"What Seb?" Myra asked looking at her husband strangely.

"Nothing My." He answered. "Just admiring how beautiful you are."

"Aren't you sweet?" Myra said kindly.

Sebastian kissed her hand sweetly and Myra smiled back at her husband.

"Myra Castellanos?" A nurse called out from behind a closed door.

"That's me!" Myra answered.

"Yes." The nurse said kindly. "We are ready to take you back now."

"Ok." She replied.

Sebastian immediately got up from his seat to help Myra to her feet. With her being so large with child it made getting up from a sitting position difficult. Holding out his, Myra took hold of it and struggled to her feet.

"You ok My?" Sebastian questioned sweetly.

"Yeah." She answered.

With that the couple slowly made their way to the door where the nurse was happily waiting for them. Once they made it over to the door, the nurse began to ask how Mrs. Castellanos was progressing with her pregnancy, to which she replied things seemed to be going well.

"Mrs. Castellanos you and Mr. Castellanos are going to be in room 2." The nurse said showing them inside the brightly light examination room. "Mrs. Castellanos I'm going to have you sit on the exam table, Mr. Castellanos you can sit in the chair."

"Ok." Sebastian said softly.

Before he took his seat, he helped Myra up onto the examination table, while the nurse prepared everything she needed for the initial exam. Taking out her blood pressure monitor, the nurse placed it around Myra's arm and let it work its magic. Once the machine was finished it let out a high pitch chime and the nurse immediately checked it.

"That can't be right." The nurse said looking at the number strangely.

"What?" Sebastian immediately asked.

"It's saying her blood pressure is 120 over 130." The nurse answered sounding perplexed.

"That doesn't sound right, is it?" Sebastian asked sounding full of concern.

"I'm going to take it again." The nurse said kindly to try to allay his fears. "Maybe the monitor is having an issue."

The nurse reset the machine and let the process go through again, but it still let out a high pitch chime and the number had not changed.

"Did it get better?" Sebastian asked sounding very concerned.

"Not really." The nurse trying to hide how concerned she was. "Uh, Mrs. Castellanos your blood pressure is a bit high."

"Oh." Myra responded not at all concerned about the recent news. "It's always high, it's not anything to worry about."

"Mrs. Castellanos this is not the best blood pressure reading." The nurse said tactfully as she could.

"120 over 130?" Myra questioned.

"Yes." The nurse said. "That's really high."

"That's not even close to my worst reading." Myra scoffed. "Once I had a blood pressure reading of 120 over 140."

"Myra?!" Sebastian said sounding horrified. "That can't be good for you."

"Your husband is right Mrs. Castellanos." The nurse said. "Normal blood pressure is 120 over 80, your number puts you close to prehypertension levels."

"Eh, it will be fine." Myra said confidently.

The nurse and Sebastian casually glanced over at each other as if they secretly acknowledged something terrible Myra didn't see. The nurse continued with the rest of her examination, once she was finished, she excused herself, leaving her and Sebastian alone in the room.

"My, honey." Sebastian began cautiously. "Why is your blood pressure so high?"

"It's nothing Seb." Myra said softly. "You heard what I told the nurse, it's always high and I've always been fine."

"Yeah," Sebastian said. "But this can't be good for the baby."

"It's nothing Seb." Myra said firmly.

Before Sebastian could protest any further in walked Dr. Marini.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Castellanos." He said looking at Myra's chart.

"Good morning Doctor." The said in unison.

"So, Mrs. Castellanos." The doctor began. "It looks like your blood pressure is on the extreme side."

Myra shrugged.

"Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Marini said. "120 over 130 is really not good, it's setting you up for preeclampsia."

"What's that?" Sebastian asked.

"Preeclampsia is high blood pressure in pregnancy and it can lead to a host of problems." Dr. Marini said.

"Like what?" Sebastian probed becoming even more concerned than before.

"Well," The doctor said. "Higher blood pressure can result in a condition where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus before labor. It can also reduce blood flow to the placenta, which could hurt fetal growth."

"What can she do about this Doc?" Sebastian said trying to stay calm for Myra's sake. "She can't take medicine for this."

"I don't need medicine Seb." Myra insisted.

"We actually can't have you take anything just yet Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Marini answered. "Maybe it would be best if we got to the root cause of why your blood pressure is so high. Are you still working Mrs. Castellanos?"

"Yes." She said happily. "I'm a senior detective at KCPD."

"Are you still active in investigations?" The doctor asked. "Or are you on desk duty?"

Myra looked over at Sebastian, she had told him that she was on desk duty, but the truth was when no one was looking she would sneak out and go to crime scenes. Once she arrived on the scene and was certain Sebastian or his partner Joseph wasn't part of the investigation team, she would dive right into her detective duties and carry-on as though she wasn't in the late stages of her pregnancy.

"Well…" She said sheepishly. "I have been actively investigating a few cases."

"Myra?!" Sebastian was horrified by her confession.

"Desk duty is so boring Seb." Myra whined. "I can't stand being chained to a desk all day long."

"Be that as it may…" The doctor interrupted the impending argument before it could begin. "I'm going to recommend bed rest for you. You are going to have to stop investigating cases immediately."

Myra sighed, but conceded, "I guess a few days in bed would probably be the best thing."

"I don't think you understand Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Marini said. "I'm going to have to place you on bed rest for the duration of your pregnancy."

"What?!" She questioned sounding horrified.

"You won't be able to work until a few weeks after your child arrives." Dr. Marini said.

"B-b-but." Myra was dumbfounded. "What am I supposed to do for the next two months?!"

"Relax a bit Mrs. Castellanos." The doctor answered. "It is important to keep calm during the next few months."

Myra scrunched her face, while Sebastian tried to assuage her disappointment.

"I'll help you through this My." Sebastian said trying to remain optimistic.

"I don't know how much you know about meditation." The doctor said. "But it is a good way to relax and clear your mind."

"Could I go to the firing range?" Myra asked. "That always calms me down."

"I don't think that would be a good idea Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Marini answered. "Besides, bed rest means, only getting out of bed to eat and use the restroom."

"You're killing me doc!" Myra exclaimed.

"We'll come up something to keep you calm My." Sebastian said trying in vain to reassure his sullen wife.

Myra grumbled something under her breath.

"In the meantime," Dr. Marini quickly tried to change the subject. "I have the results from your amniocentesis and everything looks really good. No chromosomal abnormalities and since we couldn't get a good look at your child during the last few ultrasounds, we went ahead and tested for the gender as per your request. It looks like you are going to be having a daughter."

"Told you." Sebastian gloated to his wife, as he had speculated, she would be having a girl.

"I swore I was going to have a boy." She said calmly.

"There's no doubt about it, it's a girl." Dr. Marini said confidently. "So you'll have to start thinking of nice names for girls. I hear Emma is pretty popular these days. Please lie down on the table Mrs. Castellanos."

The doctor continued with his examination, and so far everything seemed to be going well, minus Myra's extremely high blood pressure, but he made the recommendation that she go on strict bed rest effective immediately and promised that he would forward the request to her superiors at the Krimson Police Department, so she wouldn't have to go in and be tempted to continue working.

On the drive home Myra sat quietly looking out of the window. She was really skeptical about this whole bed rest deal. She couldn't understand why she was being punished this way. So she enjoyed her job, which did have a tendency to be a little stressful at time. But it wasn't something that she couldn't handle. Nevertheless, the doctor did say her having high blood pressure could adversely affect their daughter. While she was engrossed in thought, she felt the little girl inside her gently stir. It was such a strange sensation, sort of like bubbles moving around inside her, but this was a feeling one she loved experiencing more than anything else. Myra knew that she had to do her best to keep herself calm. Maybe she would give meditation a shot. How bad could it be really?

"Are you ok My?" Sebastian asked noticing how quite she was during the drive.

"She's kicking me." Myra said gently touching her stomach.

Sebastian took one hand off the steering wheel and placed it onto Myra's stomach so he could feel their child moving inside her. Every time the baby stirred inside Myra his heart seemed to skip a beat. He was so excited about this child and couldn't wait until she was born. There was a small part of him that hoped this child would be a boy, but he was very pleased his first born would be a girl. She would be the best of both himself and Myra.

"What do you want to name her?" Myra asked.

"Oh, I don't know?" Sebastian answered.

"I don't want to name her Emma." Myra said referring to the comment Dr. Marini made during the examination. "That's for damn sure!"

"We don't have to name her Emma." Sebastian agreed. "What about Sarah? That's a nice name."

"It is." She said mulling it over. "What about Mary?"

"That's cool." Sebastian said. "How about Lynh?"

"That's an unusual name." Myra said. "Where did you come up with that one?"

"It was my grandmother's name on my mother's side." Sebastian answered softly. "She was always so nice to me when she was alive."

"Ok we can use it." Myra agreed. "But I don't know if I would like that for a first name."

"So what do you want her first name to be?" Sebastian asked.

"I've always liked the name Lily." Myra answered. "I don't think there are enough Lily's in the world."

Sebastian smiled; he knew that was just the excuse she gave. He knew that lilies were her favorite flowers as well as her favorite perfume fragrance. Just then, the child inside Myra began to move around inside her mother frantically. Both Myra and Sebastian felt the girls' movements and the smiled.

"I guess she really likes that name." Myra said happily.

"I guess so." Sebastian said with smile. "Lily Lynh Castellanos."

-End-


	4. Chapter 4

The Arrival

Myra was in rare form this early afternoon. Despite being told repeatedly by both her doctor and Sebastian to remain in bed all day and only get up to bathe, use the restroom, or eat, she couldn't help but get up and do a dozen other things instead. First, she tidied up the living room of their apartment; which wasn't messy, but there was dusting that needed to be done, DVD's that needed to be alphabetized, and a floor that needed to be vacuumed. She stopped short of mopping, mostly because Sebastian would know she defied him and he would be none too pleased, so she left the floor, but vowed to get to it sometime soon.

When the living room was clean, she went immediately into the kitchen and cleaned out the refrigerator; which probably wasn't her best idea considering anything that was more than a few days old made her stomach churn violently. But it was like that in pregnancy, especially when she was nearly due to deliver, everything that she smelled instantly made her nauseous. Nevertheless, she soldiered on and emptied out everything that looked even slightly old or disgusting. Then, just to keep the odors that made her ill down, she ventured out to the dumpster and tossed everything in, made the 2 flight walk back up to their apartment, then proceeded to clean the kitchen.

"This must be my nesting instincts kicking in." Myra said to herself softly as she swept the kitchen floor diligently.

As Myra swept, she noticed a slight pain in her back, which she attributed to the strange and awkward way she had to bend over to sweep the dust particles into the dust pan. Quickly standing up, she rubbed her back and decided to take a small break. Waddling into the living room, she sat on the black leather couch and rubbed her back to try to alleviate the pain. She missed taking pain killers, but they weren't allowed since she was pregnant and she had to find other ways of coping with the agony. If Sebastian were here, she would ask him to rub her back, but he was at work.

"Work…" She sighed wistfully.

Myra missed being at work. It had been weeks since she last stepped foot in HQ. Midway through her eighth month of pregnancy she was diagnosed with high blood pressure and placed on bed rest, meaning an early maternity leave and no more working. Not working was torture in absolute terms. She missed the seeing her friends down at headquarters. She missed the funny smell the building had which was a comingled symphony of aromas with strongest scents being half burned coffee, sweat, cigarettes, and disinfectant. Early on in her pregnancy, that cacophony of fragrances would drive her to retching violently, but now she missed that smell and would give anything to experience it again, even at the expense of the contents of her stomach.

Myra also missed the giddy thrill of solving cases and the solemnity giving court testimony. She even missed the mountain of paperwork that sat piled on her desk. Oh… The desk, with its hard to open drawers and multitude of coffee ring stains from decades of mugs sitting on top of it. She even missed that hard squeaky wooden chair. She swore she would never again complain about any of it once she was finished with maternity leave. Being a detective was not just her job, it flowed through her and was a central part what defined who Myra Elizabeth Castellanos was. But now she would be defined as a wife and mother first, and it was that definition made her slightly uncomfortable.

Being married was great. Myra couldn't ask for a more loving and attentive husband than Sebastian. He worked like crazy during this time to make sure ends would meet. Grant it, Myra received a small stipend while she was on maternity leave, but it wouldn't be enough to cover all they would need while she was on maternity leave and once Lily arrived, which her due date was in a couple days. In addition to keeping their growing family financially afloat, he went to every doctor's appointment, indulged her every bizarre food craving, and tenderly triaged any aches and pains she had, and he did it all without complaint or question. Even nobler was the fact Sebastian managed to survive her wild mood swings with gentle good humor.

Sighing, Myra tried to reach where the pain in her back was to soothe it as much as she could, but this was really painful and now the pain was beginning to move from her back to the front.

"Ooh this doesn't feel good." Myra groaned out loud.

Trying anything to alleviate the pain she felt, Myra wiggled and shifted until she was flat on her back on the couch. The change of position helped somewhat, but not as much as she hoped it would. She wanted to turn to her side, but she knew that would be tricky given how big her mid-section was. Swaying gently, Myra slowly got up the momentum to turn, but her body still ached. After about a solid minute, the pain began to relent a bit, so she shifted and turned again her body until she was able to get to a standing position.

_Being 9 months pregnant is really rough._ She thought.

Giving herself a good stretch to work out some of the minor kinks she was experiencing, she yawned and resumed her cleaning duties.

It was nearly seven at night when Sebastian looked up from the mountain of paperwork that littered his desk and stared at the clock.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. "How'd it get so late?"

"Do you need to leave Seb?" Joseph asked taking a couple of files off of Sebastian's desk and placing them in a nearby filing cabinet.

"Yeah probably." He said stretching. "Myra's going to have my ass if I'm not home at a reasonable time."

Just then his cell phone began to ring and he saw who was calling, like clockwork, it was Myra. Probably to chew his ass off about being late and not calling. Reluctantly, Sebastian took the call.

"I'm sorry My I was…"

"When are you coming home?!" Myra interrupted sounding really peculiar.

"I was just getting ready to leave now." Sebastian answered. "You sound weird, are you okay?"

"I'm ok." She said softly. "I think I'm in labor."

"What?!" Sebastian was frantic.

"Uh?" Myra hesitated. "In fact, I'm about seventy-five percent certain I'm in labor."

"Ok My," Sebastian said sounding absolutely panicked. "When did the contractions start?"

"Probably around 2:30." She answered hesitantly.

"2:30?!" He shouted.

"I thought they were Braxton-Hicks contractions!" Myra said. "I didn't know they were actual contractions, please don't yell at me Seb."

"I'm sorry My." Sebastian apologized. "D- d- did your water break yet?"

"I don't think so." She answered.

"How far apart are the contractions?" He asked.

"About 30 minutes apart." She answered.

"Ok, ok, ok…" Sebastian said sounding really nervous. "The doctor said…? Said? The doctor said?! Shit what did the doctor say?!"

"Stop yelling at me Seb!" Myra screamed.

"I'm sorry My." He apologized again. "I can't remember what Dr. Marini said to us at our last appointment."

"Probably to call him when the contractions are 15 minutes apart." Joseph chimed in, having heard the entire frantic conversation.

"Thanks Joseph." Sebastian said looking over at him. "That is exactly what he said."

"What did he say?" Myra asked trying to stay calm, but starting to panic herself.

"15 minutes." Sebastian told her. "To call him and head to the hospital when they are 15 minutes apart if your water hasn't broken."

"Ok." Myra said softly. "When are you coming home Seb?"

"Soon Honey." Sebastian answered sweetly. "Soon, I promise."

"Please hurry." Myra said softly.

"On my way!" Sebastian said. "I love you Myra."

"I love you too Seb." Myra said sweetly.

With that, Sebastian ended the call and looked around frantically for his car key.

"How close are the contractions Seb?" Joseph asked.

"30 minutes." Sebastian answered as he fumbled around trying to find his keys among the paperwork that was strewn about his desk. "God damn it, where are my fucking keys?!"

Calmly Joseph removed a file and like magic they appeared and he handed them to Sebastian. Quickly, Sebastian tried to snatch the keys out of his hand, but Joseph pulled his arm back and asked, "Are you going to be ok enough to drive?"

"Maybe." Sebastian said nervously. "Probably, I don't know?!"

"I'll drive you home Seb." Joseph said sounding calm and rational.

"Thanks Joseph." Sebastian said kindly. "Oh, let me tell the Captain what's going on."

"Good idea." Joseph said.

Sebastian ran off to Captain Mitchell Balzac's office and banged on his door.

"Come in!" He yelled though the closed door.

Sebastian walked into the large office. Capt. Balzac was sitting in his large chair and working at his computer when he saw Sebastian walk in. Stopping what he was doing, he swiveled his chair in Sebastian's direction and looked at him.

"What's up Castellanos?" He said.

"Myra's going into labor." Sebastian said. "Joseph is going to drive me home."

"That's great Castellanos." He said cheerfully. "I wish you and Hanson the best of luck."

"Thanks Captain." Sebastian said turning to walk out of the office.

"Let us know when you get to the hospital." Captain Balzac said cheerfully. "I want to be there to hear the news your kid is born first hand."

-End-


	5. Chapter 5

Language Reduction

Sebastian contently ran around the living room table happily playing with a smiling and giggling Lily. The pair were playing a game of tag and it was Lil's turn to be "it", so round and round the table they played. If Myra saw this, she would probably hit the roof, then hit him for allowing all this horseplay in the house, especially running around a table that was made of metal and stone. But with Myra away doing a little extra work for the Missing Person's unit, they could play as hard and as much as they wanted. Sebastian watched over Lily intently. For a two-year-old, she was pretty good at running. Granted she wobbled a lot on her stubby little legs, but she never really fell over, not unless she took a really bad first step. Today, however, Lily seemed to be doing great as she ran around the table, he didn't say it, but he was very proud of her. As the pair played, Sebastian was watching Lily so intently that he wasn't minding his own space around the table and his toe slammed hard against the stone base.

"Mother fucker!" Sebastian exclaimed as he keeled over in unimaginable pain.

Lily, sensing her father was in pain, stopped running and walked over to him. Batting her large blue eyes at her father she asked sweetly, "Daddy hurt?"

"Just a little Pumpkin." Sebastian said trying to conceal the tears welling in his eyes.

"Kiss and make better?" Lily thoughtfully asked.

"No, no Pumpkin." Sebastian said sitting on the floor clutching his aching toe. "Daddy will be fine, he just needs a second."

"Kay!" Lily said sitting down beside her father.

Lily sat next to Sebastian and nuzzled her head into her Daddy's leg. As awful as the pain as he was, he couldn't help but let go of his injured foot and gently caress her soft brown hair. It was amazing, that no matter how bad a day or even a moment he was having, her sweet smile always brought him out of a funk.

Lily looked up at her father and smiled sweetly, then she said softly, "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Pumpkin."

Hours later, as Sebastian and Lily were seated on the floor happily playing with Lily's toys, when Myra stormed in frustrated as ever with the pace of how brutally slow everything went in the Missing Person Unit.

"Hey My." Sebastian said taking a quick note of her very foul mood. "I take it things weren't that great today."

"I swear to fucking God Seb!" She shouted. "If I could ever get my hands around the stupid asshole who constantly misfiles every-fucking-thing in that department, I would be more than happy to squeeze the life out of their dumb ass!"

Myra's expletive laden rant continued on for another ten minutes before she finally calmed down.

"How were things here?" Myra asked finally calm enough to have a normal conversation.

"We had fun Mommy!" Lily said cheerfully.

"That great kiddo." Myra said observing the mess left in the living room. "I see you two have been having a lot of fun."

"Blocks Mommy!" Lily squealed happily as she pointed to the colorful block structure.

"Yes I see." Myra said softly. "Are you building a house?"

"Yes Mommy." Lily answered. "Our house!"

"Did Daddy help you?" Myra asked kindly.

"Nope." Sebastian answered trying to gently push some of the blocks into place. "She made this all by herself."

"Well aren't you a smart cookie." Myra said scooping Lily off the floor and hugging her tightly. "Oh my, a cookie who needs a bath."

"Yeah." Sebastian said carefully pulling himself off the floor. "I was going to give her a bath a little while ago, but she really wanted to finish her building."

"Our house Daddy." Lily sweetly corrected.

"Yes Pumpkin." Sebastian quickly rectifying his statement. "Our house. I'll clean up here while you give her a bath."

"I can clean up in here Seb." Myra said handing Lily over to him.

"Are you sure My?" He asked sounding surprised she offered to clean the Livingroom after having such a difficult day.

"Yeah." She said sweetly. "It's no big deal."

"Mommy don't move our house!" Lily commanded.

"I won't move it until you come back downstairs, ok?" Myra said gently touching Lily's tiny nose.

"Ok Mommy." Lily answered.

"Let's go get you all cleaned up Pumpkin." Sebastian said as he put Lily on his back.

"Piggy back!" Lily giggled. "Piggy back!"

Sebastian made a few snorting noises then dashed off upstairs with Lily happily riding on his back.

After about forty-five minutes of cleaning up Lily, Sebastian was in her room finishing up dressing her for dinner then bed. Once she was all dressed, he began to brush her curly dark brown hair. The shampoo they used on Lily often made her hair tangled and difficult to brush, which would sometimes make her cry; something Sebastian hated to do. But he tried hard to gently work out the tangles in her hair.

"Ow Daddy." Lily cried.

"I'm sorry Pumpkin." Sebastian said tenderly. "I really am, but I have to get these tangles out."

"Ow!" Lily shrieked again as Sebastian raked though her tangled brown hair.

Sebastian continued on, trying desperately to be done with this task. He hated hurting her so much, but this particular section of hair was being very obstinate and there was no other way.

"Fuck!" Lily's little voice screamed as the brush pulled down hard and the tangle gave way.

Sebastian's brown eyes widened and he immediately stopped what he was doing and looked down horrified at his little Pumpkin. Wondering why her father stopped brushing her hair, Lily looked up at her father with an innocent confused face.

"What Daddy?" She asked sweetly.

"Please don't ever say that word Pumpkin." Sebastian said still in utter shock at what he just heard his sweet two year old daughter say.

"What word Daddy?" She innocently questioned again.

"That "F" word Pumpkin." Sebastian answered.

"Fuck Daddy?" She said with that tiny sweet voice he adored hearing.

"Whoa, whoa!" He said now completely mortified by what his ears were hearing. "No Pumpkin. You can't say that word."

"Why Daddy?" She asked.

"Because that's not a very nice word Pumpkin." He answered.

"It's not nice?" She questioned sounding very confused. "You and Mommy say it."

Sebastian balked. She was absolutely right, they did say it. They said it an awful lot. Yet it never occurred to him that their coarse language would affect Lily. He never even considered for a second she would be paying that much attention to what he and Myra said. But he couldn't have her going around screaming the "F word" like that; she was too young and sweet for that kind of vulgarity. He was going to have to change the way he spoke around Lily. That would be easy. What wouldn't be so easy was getting Myra to change.

Myra could explode with a frenetic symphony of loutish verses, even when they weren't necessarily needed in the sentence- and the "F word" was her favorite of all the crass words. She wielded that particular word with such unbridled proficiency that it would make even the most crude comedian or drunken sailor blush like a school girl. As much as Sebastian hated to admit it right now, he loved hearing Myra say it relentlessly, especially during their love making sessions or when she took down a perp. Oh man, just the thought of her saying it during those times immediately sent sensual chills down his spine. But for Lily's sake they would be have to drastically clean up their language.

"You're right Pumpkin." He said conceding to her. "Me and Mommy won't say that horrible word anymore."

"Ok Daddy." She said softly.

"I don't want you saying it either Pumpkin." Sebastian said firmly. "You're a good girl, you don't need to say bad things like that."

Sebastian finished brushing the last of the tangles out of Lily's hair and instructed her to play in her room while he went downstairs to alert Myra to what had just transpired. As he walked down the stairs into the foyer, he saw Myra taking a large bag in her hand and waving thanking the delivery boy for bringing their meal. Turning around Myra saw Sebastian walking down the stairs and triumphantly held up the food, Sebastian smiled feebly.

"What's wrong?" She asked noticing the sullen look on his face. "You usually like it when I order from Roja's. You said it reminds you of your mother's home cooking."

"No it's not that My." Sebastian said softly.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked.

"It's Lily." He said sternly. "Do you know what she just said to me?"

"What did she say?" Myra asked sounding very concerned.

"The "F word"." He said.

"She said '_fuck'_?" Myra said nonchalantly.

"Myra?!" Sebastian said.

"What?" Myra reversed calmly.

"We can't say that anymore." He said sternly.

"The fuck we can't!" Myra said jokingly.

"Seriously Myra we can't swear anymore." Sebastian said being very solemn.

"Why not?" Myra asked.

"Because I promised Lily we wouldn't." He said.

"Why would you promise something like that Seb?" She said turning to walk toward the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Sebastian followed behind her and continued the conversation.

"You're still planning on starting back on the force full time next year right?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah." Myra said placing the food down onto the kitchen counter.

"So we can't send her to pre-school cursing like a sailor." Sebastian said.

There was a brief silence between them as Myra began preparing everything for dinner, then she finally answered, "Yeah I guess. Are we doing this all the time, or just around Lily?"

"All the time." Sebastian said firmly.

"Son of a bitch, Seb?!" Myra exclaimed.

"Come on now My!" Sebastian instantly corrected her. "It will be great. Remember when we stopped smoking when you found out we were going to have Lily? Remember how hard we thought that would be?"

"That was hard Seb." Myra reminded Sebastian. "If I recall, I drew my service weapon on you!"

"Yeah you did." Sebastian said with a strange smirk as he remembered that time. "So giving up a few bad words can't be as bad as that time."

"Fine." Myra conceded. "But I make no promises for when I'm at work."

"Fair enough." He said grabbing Myra's waist from behind "You're a good wife and a great mother."

"Yeah I guess." She grumbled.

-End-


	6. Chapter 6

Blossoming Lily

It was another nice sunny day in Lake Noona, Sebastian Castellanos's home since retrieving Lily from Mobius two years ago. Every morning since then seemed nearly unreal. Every morning, Sebastian had the privilege to wake up and see Lily, something he had longed for since the fire. He wished Myra could have been there- to see what a lovely young woman Lily was becoming, and even how he had pulled himself together. From a borderline homeless alcoholic ex-detective, to the Director of Lake Noona Private Security detail. But every day Sebastian honored Myra's sacrifice by keeping his promise to take care of Lily and that was a duty he took with the utmost sincerity.

Sebastian was dressed in his suit and tie, ready to begin his day. There were so many things that needed his attention at work, but before he could run through the things on his work list, he still had to get Lily off to school. Looking at his watch, Sebastian noted the time, 7:45. Checking his pocket to make sure he had his keys, wallet, badge, and service weapon, he turned and walked out of his bedroom door. Walking down the sun-drenched hallway, he came to Lily's bedroom door and he knocked.

"Just a sec Dad!" Lily screamed on the other side of the closed door.

"'Kay." Sebastian replied.

After a short moment, Lily opened the door and smiled feebly at her father.

"Good morning Pumpkin." Sebastian said kindly. "Why aren't you dressed and ready for school?"

Lily didn't answer.

"What's wrong?" He questioned as he noticed that she didn't look like her normal chipper self. "You look like something's bothering you."

"I feel really weird." Lily answered.

"Weird how?" Sebastian asked sounding very concerned about her.

"My stomach feels weird." Lily answered softly. "And my back kinda hurts."

Sebastian put his hand to her forehead to check for a fever, but she didn't feel warm.

"I don't feel hot." Lily said as Sebastian continued to find a reason for her ailments.

"Yeah, you don't feel warm, but that doesn't mean you're not getting sick." He began. "But I'll get the thermometer to make sure."

Running off to the hallway bathroom, Sebastian opened the drawer that had the thermometer and went back over to where Lily was standing, he couldn't believe how big she was getting. It has only been two years since her rescue and she already had a few growth spurts. One came a few weeks after he liberated her. She had gone from 3'7 to 4'5 seemingly overnight. Then another growth spurt occurred before and after her 12th birthday. Her current height stood at 5'3. Then just before she entered 7th grade, Lily made the statement that she needed a few bras. That really freaked him out something terrible.

Bras meant that she was slowly, but surely, becoming a woman. And once she became a woman that would mean… _Boys_… And _dating_… And _boyfriends_… And _sex_?! And then a shotgun blasting off the knee caps of any boy who dared to touch her. Hell, just shooting the little bastard in the knees would be an act of mercy! It horrified him to think some stupid boy would steal away all her affection and attention from him, her father. The man who helped bring her into this world. The man who saved her from the evil clutches of Mobius. The man who would do anything in the world for her, now and always.

Then he remembered that Lily had a good head on her shoulders. She wasn't boy crazy or even as eager as other girls her age to date or have a boyfriend. 13 years old is way too young to date and hopefully those things were still a few more years off. Nevertheless, Sebastian recalled his discomfort having to take his "Little Pumpkin" into Alexandrina's Secret. Even worse, hearing from the store clerk as she measured Lily, telling them both that her bra size would be a 36C. He still couldn't understand how she got to be so developed when her mother had a slight frame. As he sat waiting for her to try on the garments, his head spun. He lost so much time with her and now she was slipping into womanhood before his eyes… It was all too much to contemplate.

Shaking off the anxiety and unease of that day, Sebastian went over to Lily and put the thermometer into her mouth and took her temperature.

"Well it's normal." He said taking the instrument from her mouth and noting her temperature.

"Told you." She said with a slight smile.

"Do you want to stay home today?" He asked. "I can work from home if you like?"

"No." She said softly. "I have a test in history today and I have to finish my picture for the school art contest. The winner goes on to the regional competition and my teacher, Mrs. Gordon, says I have a real shot at winning regionals."

"Well…" Sebastian hesitated, but conceded. "I still think if you're not feeling well you should stay here, but if you say you're ok enough to go to school, then I guess we'd better get going."

"It won't take me long to get ready Dad." Lily said flashing her big blue eyes at her doting father. "I promise I won't."

"Ok." He said gently. "While you're getting ready, I'll put a waffle in the toaster for you."

"Ok." She said walking into her room and closing the door.

Sebastian walked downstairs and into the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. It was nice that despite everything she had been through with Mobius, she still retained a lot of her old personality. She still loved frozen strawberry waffles and strawberry milk for breakfast during school days and he was surprised at how much he missed that smell. It was something he hadn't even contemplated all those lonely years following the fire, but when she asked for it a few days after he rescued her his heart skipped, he knew she would be fine.

In those anxious days following Lily's release, Sebastian worried, a lot. He had no idea the extent of her torture inside the STEM System and how much of that she would carry with her. Being inside the STEM is a harrowing experience for anyone, let alone a child and he wasn't sure if Lily made it out of that situation as the same sweet child he remembered. He was also very concerned about her mental state, but was distrusting of psychologists and psychiatrists after everything he endured. Try as he had to reassure himself that Mobius was finished and they would be able to live peacefully, he just couldn't bring himself to take her to see any therapist. So, Sebastian became vigilant, although it was more akin to hypervigilant. Sebastian became obsessed with monitoring everything. How Lily played with her toys, how she spoke to him, how she ate, how she slept, how interacted with other people and animals, even her pictures, which she continued to draw. Everything seemed normal and after about a year he began to relax and easy back into his gentle parenting style.

"Dad!" Lily screamed down the stairs. "Can you feed Miss Blue for me?!"

"Sure thing Lil." Sebastian shouted back.

Miss Blue was Lily's black cat that had wondered into their backyard one moonlit night a few weeks after they moved to Lake Noona. Sebastian thought it was strange that an all-black cat had found them, considering when he was in Union a black cat would assist him during his adventure. Traditionally, black cats were a symbol of bad look, but instead of looking at the cat as a creature of evil, he took this animal as a sign of good fortune and peace, just as it had been in the STEM. So, he allowed Lily to adopt her and the pair were immediately inseparable.

"Come on Miss Blue." Sebastian called to the cat as he heard the bell around the cat's neck jingling as the sleek black cat made her to the kitchen.

Pulling out a can of Snazzy Banquet cat food and pulling open the lid, Miss Blue heard the sound of her breakfast being prepared and purred and rubbed against Sebastian's legs in anticipation.

"Yeah, yeah." Sebastian said trying to gently push the cat away from his neatly pressed pant legs. "I know you're hungry."

Taking a plastic spoon and scooping the contents into the cat's food bowl, Miss Blue immediately began to eat hungrily. Sebastian gave the cat a few gentle pets before continuing his morning routine. Just as he was finishing up, Lily made her way into the kitchen.

"Ah." Sebastian said looking at the clock on the microwave. "Just in the nick of time."

Lily didn't answer, as she put her arms though the loops of her backpack, then tugged at her uniform skirt to make sure the bookbag didn't hike her skirt up.

"Do you have everything?" He asked sternly.

"I have my homework, my books, my bookbag, and my phone." Lily said.

"I have your lunch." Sebastian said handing her a brown paper bag.

"What is it?" She questioned suspiciously.

"Honey roasted turkey, with fancy Havarti cheese, on wheat bread with the crusts cut off." Sebastian replied. "A box of apple juice, a bag of all-natural cheese puffs, and an orange cut into 4 slices."

"No lettuce or tomato?" Lily whined.

"Ha! I'm not a rookie Lil." Sebastian said. "They're in there too, in separate snack bags so they don't make the sandwich all soggy. I know what my Pumpkin likes."

"Thank you, Dad." She said hugging Sebastian tightly.

"You are welcome Pumpkin." He said happily hugging her back. "We do need to get moving though."

"Ok." She said picking up her glass of strawberry milk from the table and pulling the warm waffle out of the toaster. "You did feed Miss Blue, right?"

"Yes, I did." Sebastian said walking in the direction of the garage.

"Ok." Lily said walking behind him. "Bye Miss Blue."

The cat had finished eating and was too busy cleaning herself to pay the pair any attention. Lily walked through the garage door and over to the passenger side of Sebastian's SUV. Once both parties got in the vehicle, Sebastian opened the garage door and they were off to start their day.

The day for Sebastian went surprisingly quickly. He was busy from the moment he stepped into the office building. There were meetings to be conducted, morning briefings, and a lot of paperwork that needed to be completed. Being the Director for the Lake Noona Private Security Service was almost the same as his former duties at a Sergeant. He was responsible for keeping the department running smoothly. Giving in-service trainings, as well as daily briefings. The only thing that was different was the notable lack of danger and the considerable pay upgrade.

After losing Myra and rescuing Lily, he refused to live recklessly anymore. Lily needed him and he vowed that he would always be there for her no matter what. The days of him working long hours and being dependent on a babysitter were over. He was a single father now and work would always come second to Lily. Even though work was always second, Sebastian took his responsibilities very seriously.

Lake Noona Private Security Service was the name of the private police force in the 8,500-acre gated and mixed-use community of Lake Noona, which was located in the Northeast corridor, far removed from the mid-west and Krimson City. The Security Service acted as law enforcement and sometimes took occasional assignments outside of the community. Primarily cases that needed extra attention to detail. The Lake Noona Security Service was celebrated by the state and renowned by federal law enforcement for their outstanding police work.

Sebastian was the head of it all. He liked being the Director. It gave him a chance to hone some of his organizational skills as well sharing his knowledge of detective work, without the fear of being killed in the line of duty. The crime rate in Lake Noona was low. The Security Service is never really busy until October when incidents of toilet papering houses and egged cars spiked. Every now and then there's a DUI, minor drug offences, or a car accident, but no murder or other mayhem. A part of Sebastian missed solving more serious crimes, but if it meant leaving Lily an orphan it wasn't worth it.

Looking at his watch, Sebastian noted the time and it was nearly time for him to leave to pick up Lily from school. Packing up his things, Sebastian said his goodbyes for the weekend and left the building. As he was walking through the parking lot towards his car, his cell phone rang, taking a quick glance at the number, he saw it was from Lily's school, so he answered it.

"This is Director Castellanos."

"Hello Dir. Castellanos." A woman's voice said on the other end of the line. "This is Katlyn Richman, nurse at St. Christopher's Girls School."

"Is Lily ok?" He asked.

"Oh yes, she's fine." The nurse said cheerfully. "She's in my office and when you come to pick her up afterschool, please come to my office, she'll be there."

"Ok…?" Sebastian said sounding confused. "Did something happen to her?"

"This is something Lily wanted me to discuss with you in person." The nurse replied. "We'll see you when you get here."

"Yes Ma'am." He said hanging up the phone and jumping into his vehicle.

Lily's school, St. Christopher's School for Girls, was the only all-girls school located inside of Lake Noona. It was one of the highest rated school in the state, with small class sizes, all-female staff, and a focus on preparing girls for college and careers in medicine, science, and business. It was a pricey school, but more than worth the $35,000 a year tuition. Lily was happy there. She was liked by everyone at school and excelled in all her classes, but more importantly, the school was safe.

One of the duties of the Lake Noona Security team was to heavily patrol the Castle Hill section, where Lily's school was. The Castle Hill neighborhood, is a gated community within a gated community. The houses in that section started at $2 million dollars and where the Lake Noona elite lived. Nearly all of the girls who attended St. Christopher's lived in Castle Hill. With security in that area being so restrictive, there was very little chance of anything happening to Lily while she was there. Putting the SUV into reverse, Sebastian pulled out of his parking spot and wasted no time getting to Lily's school.

Walking into the nurses' office, Sebastian was greeted by Katlyn Richman, the schools' only nurse on staff. She smiled and lead him to her office where there could have a private chat about what was going on with Lily.

"So, what's going on Miss Richman?" Sebastian questioned as he sat down in the chair in front of RN. Richman's office.

"Well Mr. Castellanos." She said with a smile. "Lily got her period today."

All the color drained out of his face. He was gobsmacked.

"She what?!" He questioned in astonished disbelief. "How the hell did this happen?!"

"Lily is 13 years old." The nurse said calmly. "She was going to start her period at some point."

"Yeah but at 13?" Sebastian continued to question. "Isn't that a bit on the young side?"

"Not necessarily." She reassured. "A girl can start menstruating anywhere between 10 to 16 years old."

"Still, thirteen is really young for all of this." He said with the utmost sincerity. "I mean is there a way to stave this off until she's at least 16 or 60 or so!"

"Lily had a feeling you wouldn't take this news well." She said softly. "But I assure you Mr. Castellanos, this is all natural and normal. It means Lily is growing up and becoming a woman."

"No!" Sebastian cried. "She's my Little Pumpkin… She can't become a woman just yet."

"It will be ok Mr. Castellanos." RN. Richman said as reassuringly as she could. "I gave her a change of clothes to put on and put the skirt she was wearing in a bag which I placed inside her backpack. I also gave her a few pads until you can get to the store to buy some for her."

Pads?! That word sent chills down his spine and it felt like all the color drained from his flesh. Sebastian knew what "pads" were, but he didn't know the first thing about them, other than the obvious. An icy chill ran through him as he thought about having to walk into a grocery store or pharmacy to buy them. When he was married, Myra always purchased her feminine supplies, he never had to deal with buying them. Additionally, he always thought Myra would be the one to guide Lily through this period womanhood stuff, in fact, he was more dependent on that idea than he cared to admit. But with Myra gone, there was no one else to look after her and he would have to navigate these scary uncharted waters alone.

"Ok." He said with a soft sigh of defeat. "Where is she now?"

"Resting in the back." She said. "I'll go get her."

Nurse Richman got up from her desk and went out the door behind her to retrieve Lily. Meanwhile, Sebastian sat in the chair still dazed from the news she had given him. He knew this day would come when the doctor announced he and Myra would be having a daughter. Then when he thought she had passed away, he reconciled himself to not having to deal with his little baby going through puberty. In death, she would always remain his sweet little baby girl. Then after he learned the truth and saved her, Lily was already eleven years old. He had lost those tender early years and would now have to not only transition back into his fatherly role, but be rapidly thrust into the gear shift Lily's teen years would bring. This was happening way too fast and there was nothing he could do to prevent any of it.

As he sat there reeling, RN Richman and Lily walked into the office. Lily's face was red from embarrassment. She looked at Nurse Richman who smiled at her, then she slowly walked over to her father and hugged him tightly.

"It's ok Pumpkin." He said holding her tightly. "We'll get through this together."

"You most certainly will." The nurse said cheerfully. "Now Lily, you may experience a variety of symptoms for the next 3 to 7 days. You will experience bleeding, some cramping, feeling tired, maybe even a little emotional, but these are all normal symptoms, so please don't think there is something wrong with you. The good news is that it's Friday, so you can spend the weekend taking it easy if you want."

"Ok Miss Richman." Lily said softly.

"You'll be fine." She said kindly. "I know this is new for the both of you, but it's all a normal part of growing up, so try not to worry."

Sebastian smiled at Lily and said in his most confident voice, "Yeah, Lil. We'll get through this; it will be a cinch."

With that Sebastian thanked the nurse for helping Lily and the two walked out of the building, through the parking lot and into Sebastian's SUV. Putting the vehicle into reverse, Sebastian drove out of the parking lot and off to Greene's Pharmacy. He had to swallow his pride and shake off his apprehensions, because today, he would have to purchase feminine hygiene supplies for Lily. This was an extremely uncomfortable situation.

The pharmacy was about 15 minutes from Lily's school and traffic down Lake Noona's main thoroughfare was a bit heavier than normal, but it was a Friday afternoon and people were busy getting ready to start their weekend. Placing the SUV in park, Sebastian looked over at Lily, who had been strangely quiet since she got in the car. He could tell something was bothering her, but he didn't want to be overbearing. She also looked really exhausted, poor thing.

"Are you coming in with me?" He asked.

"I'm really tired." She said softly. "Is it ok if I just stay in the car?"

"It's ok Pumpkin." Sebastian said tenderly stroking her shoulder length brown hair. "You stay here and rest. I'll get your supplies."

"Thanks Dad." She said softly.

"Are you in pain?" He asked. "Do I need to get you something for that?"

"I do feel a little achy." Lily said timidly.

"Ok, I'll get something for your pains too." Sebastian said opening the car door and preparing to go into the pharmacy. "Lock the doors behind me, keep your phone in your hand, and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Ok Dad." Lily said meekly.

Following her father's orders, Lily locked the car doors once Sebastian exited and he quickly ran into the pharmacy. As soon as he went into the brightly lit store, his heart thumped wildly into his chest, as he walked around to find the aisle with the feminine supplies. After ambling for what seemed like an eternity, he found the aisle. He stared at all the glossy colored packaging, with images of butterflies, flowers, with comingled with white, hot pink, and garish purple coloring- it was sensory overload. With a sigh, Sebastian slowly walked through the aisle and looked at the all the varieties of products. Pads, tampons, and cups?

"A Princess Cup?!" Sebastian said picking up the bright hot pink box. "What the hell is a Princess Cup!?"

With his curiosity overwhelming him, Sebastian carefully opened the box and pulled out the little clear plastic cup. He bent and squeezed it for a moment, then placed it back into the box, and pulled out the instructions and read how the Princess Cup worked.

"First fold the Princess Cup into a U shape or fold it as flat as you can." He read out loud softly. "Then sit either on a shower stool or on the toilet. Relax your vaginal muscles to... INSERT!?"

With wide horrified eyes, Sebastian quickly tucked the instructions back into the box then put the box on the shelf, tucking the little hot pink box as far back as he possibly could. There would be no "inserting" anything into his daughter; so that was a hard no on tampons and the Princess Cup. Besides, the Princess Cup seemed pretty advanced for both Lily and for him to tolerate. He sincerely doubted that she would feel comfortable with something like that; Lord knows he didn't and this was already a pretty uncomfortable situation as it was.

Walking past the tampons, Sebastian finally came to the pads and there was a plethora of options to chose from. Things for nighttime, things for heavy flow, things with wings? He always chucked when he heard about the "wings", it just sounded so bizarre. He grabbed tiny pink box that said it was for heavy flow and had the number 5 on it?

"_What do these numbers mean?_" He thought to himself.

He turned the box around to try to decipher the weird numerical code the pads had and thankfully it was pretty clear how the numbers worked. Each number correlated to how bad the bleeding was, 1 and 2 were pretty light, 3 and 4 were for moderate bleeding, and 5 through 6 was for overnight or heavy flow.

"_Well, is there a multi-pack for all of them?_" He wondered.

Sebastian proceeded to rummage through the shelf to see if there was a pack that had a little of each number level, but after about ten minutes of looking, he didn't see anything. Finally, he had to resign himself to buying a pack for overnight and a pack for moderate bleeding. Both packs only had twenty-four pads in them, hopefully that would be enough for now. He had no idea how long her menstrual cycle would last or how much blood she would lose. Maybe he should buy four packs each, which he opted to do.

Then he walked over to the pain killer aisle and looked for something specific to Lily's condition, but again, he wasn't sure what brand of medicine worked the best, so he grabbed a bottle of Modal, Crampsprin, and the store brand, all extra strength. He wanted to make her as comfortable as he could. Then lastly, he remembered something Myra enjoyed whenever she was having menstrual cycle and that was ice cream. Lily did enjoy a bowl of birthday cake ice cream, so he went over to the freezer and picked up a couple pints and a peach ice tea for her to drink in the car. Juggling all the items in his arms, Sebastian got in line and promptly paid for all the items. He was shocked to see his tab came to nearly $60 dollars. Man, this stuff was pretty expensive.

A short while later, Sebastian got back in his SUV and looked over at Lily, she must have been asleep the entire time he was in the store, because she had a little bit of drool on the side of her lips.

"You feeling ok Pumpkin?" He asked.

Lily rubbed her blue eyes and said softly, "Yes Dad."

"We're heading home now Pumpkin, when we get in, just go lie down."

"Ok." She said. "I put in an order for Terrezano's pizza; all you have to do is pick it up."

"Are you sure you want pizza tonight?" Sebastian asked with a smile.

"Yes." She said. "I could go for a peperoni pizza."

"With extra cheese and sausage?" He asked.

"Of course, Dad." She said with a big yawn.

Sebastian smiled at Lily. She was so thoughtful, just like Myra. She was also being very brave even though he was probably in a lot of pain and feeling lousy. He was very proud of his tired little pumpkin.

-End-


End file.
